St. John's guard Nahiem Alleyne faces old 'friends' at UConn
On Saturday night in Hartford, Nahiem Alleyne plans to embrace his role as the enemy.
The St. John’s guard will see a lot that is familiar when the Red Storm (8-3, 1-0) take on defending national champion and No. 5-ranked Connecticut (10-2, 0-1) in an 8 p.m. Big East showdown at XL Center.
Alleyne was an important cog off the bench and played in every game for the Huskies last season, averaging 5.2 points per game as they captured the 2023 national title. He transferred to St. John’s two weeks later.
“I can’t be friends out there even though I know those guys, won a national championship with those guys,” Alleyne said Wednesday after he was moved to the starting lineup and scored 15 points in the Red Storm’s Big East win over Xavier. “At the end of the day, I’m on the opposite team. I’m here to kill them and get the job done.”
The reason for Alleyne’s decision to change schools can be summed up in two words: Rick Pitino.
The Hall of Fame coach was installed at St. John’s while the Huskies were in their championship run.
“The reason to leave was just to have a better opportunity for myself,” Alleyne said. “I knew Coach Pitino will put me in the right positions. So legendary coach? Why not go for him? That was kind of just basically the decision, really.”
“He is now effectively the enemy but he was great [for us],” UConn coach Dan Hurley said at Big East Media Day in October. “He accepted his role off the bench, put his ego aside for the group and helped us win a national championship.”
Pitino has praised Alleyne as a high-level defender and strong shooter all season, but he wanted to see more passing and rebounding. Through 10 games, he had made only one start. And it wasn’t until this past week that Pitino saw enough in practice to give him another.
“A week ago he would have had zero rebounds, zero assists, zero steals and I called him ‘the bagel man,’ ” Pitino said. “And he focused on it — rebounding and passing. . . . We reward the guys with how they practice.”
His new teammates have had a curiosity about his championship experience.
“These guys are always asking questions about that run and I tell them about the mentality, details and preparation that’s going to help you win games,” he said. “The little things matter and that’s a big thing.”
“Nahiem can shoot the [heck] out of the ball but I find his best trait is his leadership and his intensity,” Joel Soriano said.
Alleyne already had become the enemy when UConn got its championship rings. His got delivered to his family’s home. But it’s likely — at least at introductions — that Huskies fans will acknowledge his contributions from last season.
“I hope there’s some love,’’ he said, “but I don’t really care too much because I am on the opposite team. I don’t expect them to cheer me on every time I score.”